While Coloradans were watching on election day to see who would win, the nation was watching to see how the voting process would go. After long lines and election mishaps around the country, Tuesday’s primary served as another test of Colorado’s mail-in voting process, which has received praise from experts and criticism from the president.
On Wednesday, Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold called the election an “overwhelming success” in a news release. A New York Times article about the primary also said “Colorado offers a model for voting smoothly in a pandemic.”
“Despite misleading attacks, disinformation, and attempts to make vote-by-mail a partisan issue, Colorado’s election proves that mail ballots are the key to accessible voting during this health crisis,” said Griswold.
Amber McReynolds, who was the director of elections in Denver for 13 years, calls Colorado’s system the “platinum standard.” She’s currently the head of the National Vote at Home institute and Coalition, and spent election night around some Colorado voting precincts.
“This isn’t a partisan issue, this isn’t about outcomes of the election, it is simply about who votes,” McReynolds said.